A major achievement for improving the health of the Speed River watershed took place last week when an 81-year-old dam was removed from the stream that runs through Plant an Old-Growth Forest project lands owned by the Ignatius Jesuit Centre of Guelph.
It was the last man-made blockade of Marden Creek to be removed after 180 years of dams blocking the water that eventually made its way into the Speed River.
On Nov. 9, the centre held a tree planting ceremony to commemorate the completion of the project. Marden Creek project partners and supporters gathered to celebrate the achievement.
The commemorative tree was planted at the former dam site. Wellington Halton-Hills, MPP Ted Arnott, Mayor of Guelph/Eramosa Township Chris White, and Guelph city councilors Ian Findlay and Andy van Hellemond, were in attendance and congratulated the partners, the Wellington County Stewardship Council, Trout Unlimited Canada, and the Ignatius Jesuit Centre of Guelph, for the success of the work, and their contribution to improving watershed health.
For now, the most noticeable aspect of the dam removal is the disappearance of the small , shallow lake that extended either side of Highway 6 North, on the property of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre. In place of the lake, Marden Creek carves its way through the sediments deposited during the 180-year reign of the dam. Those mud flats will be the focus of ongoing ecological restoration efforts.
For the Wellington County Stewardship Council and Trout Unlimited Canada, the dam removal represents a significant step toward the completion of an 11-year project to restore Marden Creek to what it would have been historically – a cold water tributary of the Speed capable of supporting brook trout from its headwaters all the way to the river.
Brook trout are indicator species for good quality water – they can survive only in the cleanest, clearest, cold water. Their return to Marden Creek will demonstrate that the water quality is excellent; vastly improved from when the dam restricted its flow, and negatively impacted its water quality.
